Crossing Chronos
by Shadic the Hedgehog Author
Summary: Sequel to A Step Onto Chronos. After an attempt on his life during the Fifteenth Starlight festival, Joe awakens to find himself in a place he's never seen before. He embarks on another adventure, with a different group and different goals.
1. Prologue: Old Friend, New Enemy

**Crossing Chronos**

**Prologue: Old Friend, New Enemy.**

Shadic the Hedgehog

Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than my manga and games

Its been ten years since Lucca and I had gotten married, and things had gone smoothly. Contrary to the dream that I had had after the fight with Magus, I did have a job as the new head of the Square Table guards, while Lucca made special equipment for us to use. Though, there really wasn't anything we had to use them for, as most criminals in Guardia wouldn't dare cause trouble.

The closest we came to such a problem was when a strange cat-like Mystic tried burning down the house Lucca and I lived in. He had brought some strange monsters I'd never seen before with him, but as I was the reincarnation of the Avatar of Fire, I just put out his fires and ripped his weird lava monsters to shreds. I didn't have to transform to use the powers, thanks to extensive magic training with Spekkio. After I broke the cat Mystic's neck, I thought I had sensed a dragon nearby, but it vanished as I went to look.

When I said I was the reincarnation of the "Avatar" of Fire rather than "God" of Fire, was because a few more of Barog's memories had awoken in me, despite having not transformed for nearly fifteen years. Turns out that I was wrong on a few aspects of the "Invincibles," as I had called them. One of the main ones was that their actual over-arching title was "The Avatars of Reality," and each was referred to as the avatar of their element, as opposed to a god. Tailz and Tobies, while actually still the "Reason" and "Power" of Tailies, were usually referred to as the Avatars of Yang and Yin, respectively.

The Mystics of Medina had never heard of the cat-like one, nor had they ever seen anything like the lava creatures. As we hadn't gotten the names, Lucca had started work on a new type of Sight Scope that would give more information than just the vitality of the creature it scanned. Unfortunately, the closest she had gotten was one that would reveal a creature's name and give a strange colour, potentially related to the element of the creature, but no vitality information.

In any case, Crono and his mom had both moved into the castle with Marle and King Guardia, though at this point, Crono and Marle were officially crowned King and Queen of Guardia, with their own daughter, Princess Schala. Magus was touched by his sister's namesake, and visited us and Crono and Marle whenever the people of the Last Village would give him time to. Unfortunately, he couldn't find her in any time period, not even what was once known as the "Age of the Apocalypse."

Speaking of children, Lucca and I had a son, David Taban McCord, to keep going a McCord family tradition, and start a new one. For the four generations before me, the oldest male of the family would alternate the name "Joseph" and "David," while the tradition I was attempting to start was to have the father-in-law's name as the child's middle name.

In any case, it was the night of the Fifteenth Starlight Festival, the annual death-scream of Lavos having already passed by that day. Lucca and I were greeting people at the entrance to Leene Square, as it was our year to do so. Ayla was continually being challenged by my guards to arm wrestling, and was winning every time, while Kino watched with a smile. Crono and Marle, or rather, King Crono and Queen Nadia, were watching the children playing, Ayla's son, as always, dominating their game of tag. Or hide-and-seek. Or whatever they were playing at the time.

Magus was at the bar, having learned to enjoy alcohol at the wedding reception, where I got him so drunk I managed to persuade him to turn Glenn back into a human. After he had passed through a few other forms, anyways... Glenn himself was patrolling the grounds for trouble, though there hadn't been a whole lot through the years, one couldn't be too careful.

Robo had had to arrive in the Epoch every time, occasionally bringing Doan with him (though he said was getting too old for the journey), so we left it with him. Belthasar felt that it would be best for him to remain in the "future," especially as he had joined the Chronopolis Science Academy, where they had been studying the Eye of Time. He promised he wouldn't tell them the actual origins of the device, but would help them study how it works.

Spekkio was around somewhere as well, though Gaspar decided to remain at the End of Time, and he was most likely playing games with Norstein Bekkler. Apparently, they were old friends. How, I have no idea, as Bekkler never says anything about his past, and Spekkio would always tell me that it was a secret.

As the swarm of people pretty much stopped, Lucca and I got ready to head in to enjoy the festival as well, when one last person approached wearing a pure-black outfit, wearing sunglasses. I turned back to welcome him, but he spoke first.

"It's been a long time, McCord," he stated. His voice was in the medium range, but he sounded as though he was trying to make it sound deeper for intimidation purposes.

I glanced questioningly at Lucca for a moment before replying. "Do I know you?"

"What a pity. It seems you've forgotten me." He reached into his coat with both hands. "I was hoping to hear you say my name with your dying breath." He whipped his hands out and all I saw was a brief glint of metal before a pair of gunshots rang out.

Here's where things get fuzzy for me, so I have to hand the story over to Crono for a bit.

_**CRONO**_

_Marle and I were watching the children with Atropos when we heard the shot. We told the kids to stay with Atropos as we raced for the entrance, where the sound had come from. We had our weapons with us, as an official part of our formal wear, so we made sure to draw them as we ran. Along the way we were met by Glenn and Magus, who also had their weapons, and by the time we reached the entrance, everyone was there, along with Spekkio._

_I stopped short on seeing Joe and Lucca laid out on the ground with blood almost pouring from the wound on their chests, but Marle wasn't stopped by anything as she reached Lucca's side to begin casting cure spells, Spekkio assisting Joe. I faced the strange man in black and demanded to know who he was._

_"That is no concern of yours. My fight was with him," the man said, pointing harshly at Joe's prone form with one of his strange-looking guns._

_I retorted, "And you just attacked one of my best friends without provocation. That makes it my concern." That's when I heard a strangled gasp from behind me. I glanced back and saw Joe's son, David, behind me._

_"Mom... Dad..." he whispered, before crying out. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

_As he did, a bright green light appeared at the feet of the man in black before expanding into a U-Gate. As the man disappeared he gestured at David, crying out "Damn you, child!" But the U-Gate didn't stop there, expanding until it had engulfed all eight of us, plus Spekkio. I was caught up in the swirling energy of Gate travel when I lost consciousness._

"Each betrayal begins with trust."

-Phish

* * *

A/N: And so begins my next big story. Hopefully, this one won't take me as long to finish. The POV returns to Joe next chapter, as he wakes up on a beach in a place he's never been...

If you can guess who the "man in black" is, I'll see if I can figure out a way to give you, or a character of yours, a cameo in a chapter somewhere in the story. First person to guess wins!

And, yes, the person did appear in "A Step Onto Chronos."


	2. Not Just Time Travel

**Crossing Chronos Chapter One**

**More Than Time Travel**

Shadic the Hedgehog

Disclaimer: Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are tradesnark Squaresoft. Characters not of either of those games belong to me.

I groaned, wondering why I was in such pain. I opened my eyes, but before I could see anything but the sky, I was hit by the memories of the previous night. The man in black. The gunshot. Lucca getting hit. Then just fuzzy sounds and sensations until a bright green light engulfed my senses. Though I'm pretty sure Marle was healing Lucca before the light hit. Now if only I knew why the light seemed so familiar.

"Hey kid, w- Whoa! Sir, are you okay?" I opened my eyes again, looking at an old man with a odd little creature beside him. I put my hand over the bullet wound and sent a jet of fire through it. I hissed in pain and the man jumped back in surprise from the flames that came out the other side.

When I pulled my hand away, the wound was sealed over. I then looked at the old man and replied, "I'm better now." I looked around and saw a kid, maybe sixteen years old, just getting up from the sand. I was sitting on a beach with exotic-looking plants on the other side from the water. The kid suddenly jumped up.

"Where's Leena?!"

The old man raised an eyebrow. "You two were the only ones I saw when I got here. Are you a friend of Leena's, young man? I believe she's babysitting in the village right now. Since you two are up and feeling better, I may as well head back to town. Be careful, you two."

The kid turned to me as the old man left. "So who are you?" he asked.

"My name's Joe. You?"

"I'm Serge."

"Nice to meet you, kid. Now, could you tell me where I am?"

"This is Opassa Beach. C'mon. Leena's probably worried about me."

We walked off the beach, and Serge lead me to an area filled with strange, flying fish monsters apparently called "Lizard Rock."

We fought our way through the area, Murasame in my hand and a strange weapon Serge called a swallow in his own hands. It was a weapon like a staff, save for the blade at each end, and Serge was apparently skilled in its use. I wouldn't have dared to use a similar weapon, as whenever I tried to use a regular staff, I would end up bashing myself in the forehead.

Anyways, we made our way through, the fish monsters, something Serge called a "Beach Bum," and some lizard monsters not being too difficult to kill, and found ourselves a short distance from Serge's hometown, called Arni Village.

As we entered the village, Serge immediately ran towards the back of the town, nearer to the ocean. I hurried to catch up to him as he ignored everyone on his way. Standing on the docks was a young girl, probably about Serge's age, with long reddish hair and in a blue and brown dress. She turned as he approached.

"Leena!" he shouted.

"Who are you?" she asked. "Have we met somewhere before...? Oh, are you from Termina?"

Before Serge had a chance to reply, a young boy swimming nearby shouted, "HEEY! Yeah, YOU! Don't be tryin' to pull any moves on our Leena, you jerk!" Both Serge and Leena turned to the boy.

"Don't be silly!" replied Leena. "And don't you go swimming out too far now, you hear!?"

"Oookay! Gotcha!"

Leena turned back to Serge. "I guess kids will be kids... Don't worry about them."

Serge turned as well, and said, "Don't you recognize me?"

"Hmmm... You know... You _do_ look a lot like the boy who used to live next door to me..."

"What was his name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I, uh, might've known him?"

"That boy... He... Died... He drowned when he was very young, about ten years ago... Soon after that, his mother passed away, too. I was still very young back then, myself, so I don't remember it well myself, but my mom says his name was... Serge..."

Serge shook his head, "But, I'm Serge!"

"You-you're Serge?" Leena blinked, then glared at Serge. "Don't do that, its not even funny! The boy is dead, don't you understand!?" She calmed down for a moment, looking back at the ocean. "I think, I kinda liked him, way back then... If that boy were still alive, I wonder what would've become of us?" She shook her head. "Sure is weird... Why am I telling you all of this, anyway? Well, there's no use thinking too heavily on the past, I guess. It's not like my Serge is going to come back..." She turned back to Serge. "You can find his grave on Cape Howl. Why don't you go and visit? No one's been there in a while... Good-bye... Stranger..."

She turned back to the ocean, and Serge walked up to me in a daze. I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you head into town for a moment, I want to ask her something."

"Okay..."

"Excuse me, miss?"

"Yes?"

"What year is this?"

"What? It's 1020, why?"

"I'm a time traveller, but I didn't know when I ended up. Thanks."

Leena looked at me skeptically. "O...kay... Whatever." As I turned away, I heard her mutter, "weird people today..."

I followed Serge back into town and caught up with him before he got too far. "So, what year was it?"

"Huh?"

"What year did you meet your Leena on that beach?"

"1020, why?"

"Well, there goes my theory that you and I both time-travelled. Looks like it was just me. I can't believe I missed five years... You, on the other hand, must've universe-travelled."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're in a different reality than you were before. It happened to me a couple times, actually, but that was years ago. What say we visit your grave, then?"

"Don't say it like that! I'm not dead!"

"Chill, kid. I know _you _aren't dead, but in this reality you _are_. Hence, we're going to be visiting _your_ grave. Which way is this Howl Cape?"

"Cape Howl, and it's to the west of Arni."

"Alright, then let's go!" I grabbed Serge by the arm and dragged him off. Eventually, he shook my hand off and followed after, rubbing his arm where I had grabbed him. We went up the cape, fighting off a couple of Beach Bums and those lizard things again, before we reached the top.

And there, as Leena had said, was a grave. I stood back while Serge kneeled in front of it to read the words. He was muttering under his breath as he did, until he backed away, shaking his head in horror.

"So, you must be Serge..." said a voice behind me. I turned and saw a man in white clothes with long purple hair, who continued talking. "The ghost of the boy that died ten years ago..." Serge turned as well, and the man came closer, two men in golden armour standing beside him. One of the two was tall and skinny, while the other was short and fat.

Serge came down beside me and the man spoke again. "It's no use. You can't escape that way. All you have to do, is come with us. Your friend can even come along as well."

The tall man spoke up, "But, Sir Karsh... Do you think it is truly true that this chap is a ghost? He seems like perfectly perfect young boy to me..."

I interrupted whatever "Karsh" was going to say next by purposely misconstruing the tall man's words. "You have an opinion on what a 'perfect' young boy is like? Gross, man. Just gross."

Karsh shouted in irritation, "It doesn't matter! We found the boy, just as that guy said we would, didn't we? Just seize him, already!"

As the two men in gold approached, a young girl's voice rang out. "Hold yer Seahorses!" Serge and I looked behind Karsh and his men to see a blonde girl in a red and white outfit, a dagger on a belt about her waist.

As Karsh demanded to know who she was, I whispered to myself, "Rosa...?" The girl ignored Karsh and jumped off the cliff she was on and landed behind Karsh and before us.

"Outta the way, missy!" growled Karsh. "You don't wanna get hurt, now, do ya?"

"Shut yer trap!" retorted the girl who bore such a strong resemblance to my adopted daughter. "You're the ones who'd betta get outta the way!"

The short man in gold stepped forward, "You have a problem? Do you have a shakin' idea who you're dealing with, missy?"

"That's enough!" commanded Karsh. "Listen up, junior! Our orders are to take you in. We don't wanna hurt you, just come with us, or else this axe o' mine will have to do the talkin'." He drew forth a large axe, and got into a fighting pose.

"Rosa" drew her own weapon and adopted her own fighting stance. "Fer cryin' out loud. Would ya just shut up and get on with it!? I'm gonna kick your sorry arses so hard, you'll kiss the moons!" Serge and I glanced at each other and shrugged, before drawing our own weapons.

"Fair enough. You leave us no choice. You'll regret this, missy!"

The two men in armour readied their halberds and charged in. As Serge charged in to attack Karsh, the tall man tripped him and said, "Sir! His innately innate Element colour attribute is White!"

Karsh replied, "Right!Quick, Solt, use a Black element on him!"

"How unfortunately unfortunate! I do not seem to have any, sir!"

"Idiot! You should always carry Elements of every colour! Peppor, how about you!?"

The short man replied, "I'm shakin' in my shoes to tell you this, sir, but I don't have any either!"

"Useless fools! Er, anyway, real men don't need magic when they can fight with their muscle!"

I helped Serge up and we charged back in to battle. "Rosa" was dodging most of the swings Solt was trying to hit her with, while Peppor was trying his hardest to hit Serge without being hit himself. Karsh and I, however, were almost even in our fight, his axe and the Murasame constantly blocking or being blocked. Suddenly, the girl who looked so much like my daughter jumped back, and glowed red, and series of fireballs shooting out of the ground in front of her to hit all three of our enemies.

Solt collapsed right there, apparently exhausted, so the girl moved to assist Serge, while I continued to fight Karsh. Peppor didn't last long against two agile opponents, and Serge and "Rosa" both moved to assist me. Serge stopped for a moment before glowing blue and a jet of water came shooting out of his hand which knocked Karsh backwards, allowing me to hit him with the hilt of the Murasame and knock the air out of him.

Karsh dropped his axe as Solt ran away, and Peppor urged his superior to follow his example, before running himself.

"Damn cowards," complained Karsh. "As for you, missy, We won't forget this!"

"Oooh, I'm so scared!" mocked the girl. "I'll be happy to take you on anytime! Think I'd lose to scum like you? Hah!"

I stepped forward, "Great timing, Rosa. But why do you have such an odd accent?"

She blinked in confusion. "Rosa? What are you talkin' about, mate? M'name's Kid!"

I stared before horrified realization dawned on my face. _'I had travelled to a different universe, too!'_

_It is easier to find a traveling companion than it is to get rid of one_

_Art Buchwald _


End file.
